Our Winter Trip Begins

Since this is the year when our children and grandchildren spend Christmas with their in-laws and cousins, John has convinced me to leave MO on December 8 and make a fast trip cross county to warm, sunny Florida.

In order for me to get into the Christmas spirit I have brought several decorations and a small tree with us.  But we also stopped at my mother’s home in St. Charles for a couple of days to help her get her Christmas decorations put up.  We hung wreaths, washed windows, replaced light bulbs, and then put up the Christmas tree and decorated it with ornaments that brought back many loving memories.

We got as far as Waycross GA on the second day of travel and are camped in the Laura’s Walker State Park on the Laura Walker Lake.  It’s so quiet and peaceful with frogs quietly croaking and the occasional bird chirping.  Aaahhh!  Such serenity!

Winter 2013 Recap

Having left home on Dec. 8 and returning home on April 1, we have had an interesting and certainly a laid back winter. The weather started off on the chilly side but warmed up nicely in January and pretty much stayed warm the rest of the winter.

We certainly took a circuitous route to get to Florida with some time spent in Arkansas and Texas before heading to North Carolina. From there we traveled along the Atlantic coast with numerous stops until we reached St. Augustine where we spent about 2 weeks in the area. Down the coast a bit further we decided we were tired of the ocean and headed inland for a short time then stopped on the Gulf side for a time near Marco Island.

The first week in February found us as far south as we could go in Key West. Our plan was to stay one week there and then move back up the Keys but one week turned into two weeks and then into three weeks. Who knew we could spend that much time in one place? But we certainly enjoyed the city and the friends we made while there.

One week in Marathon, one week in Key Largo and then to Miami where we met up with our son, daughter-in-law and grandson who were attending a convention in Miami Beach. Of course, we enjoyed our babysitting duties while they took in the convention. We had a week in Ft. Myers Beach tracking in the sand and then turned towards home with a stop in Norman to see our other grandsons.

This trip is vastly different from our winters out west. We stayed in one spot longer, did more bike riding and kayaking, less golfing, and lots of walking. It was an easy going trip with fewer exciting adventures and more relaxing, casual days with fine dining experiences and wine to fill in the evenings.

We both are homesick and ready to be in a large house where we can spread out for awhile. Thank you for joining us this winter. We hope we kept you warm, or at least thinking about being warm.

Across the South

We were on the road early and planning on a leisurely drive today, possibly even stopping to do some sightseeing. We stopped for lunch at the border of LA and MS when John thought to check on the installation of the window shade in the slide. From inside the coach he looked over the roof of the slide and discovered that there were three screws showing through. Not only could that roof leak, now every time we open or close the slide, the screws will damage the rubber seal.

We are 375 miles from the factory where we had these installed and don't really want to turn around and go back to get them to fix this. Several phone calls and an hour and half later we are going to drive to Columbus, GA to get this fixed. We have to be there by 8 AM Friday morning.

It was a long drive, especially since we are driving on the tail of the storm in 20-30 mph winds. We arrived at the repair place at midnight so they could start work as early as possible.